Many outdoor cooks prefer to grill juicy or fatty foods using a rotisserie. The slowly-turning spit employed in such devices promotes a self-basting action that may provide more even cooking, may retain liquids in the food that might otherwise drip away, may reduce flare-ups and may provide more moist cooked foods.
Covered gas grills frequently are sold with or may be equipped with a rotisserie device. The device generally includes an electric reduction gear drive motor and a removable spit having a pointed rod fitted with two or more opposing tined, movable forks that secure the food in place during cooking. The motor and spit typically are mounted on short pedestals or other supports arranged so that the food will be centered over the grill cooking surface. The upper half in a covered gas grill (viz., the cover or lid) generally includes slots that fit over the spit when the rotisserie is in use and the grill cover is closed (viz., during cooking).
Covered porcelain steel kettle-style charcoal grills usually are not sold with a rotisserie device but may be equipped with an aftermarket rotisserie adapter. The adapter typically includes a fixed height cylindrical ring that fits atop the kettle base. The grill cover sits atop the ring during cooking and is lifted away to obtain access to the food. The ring typically includes a motor support on which an included electric reduction gear drive motor may be mounted, and slots to support an included removable spit. Like the removable spit used in a gas grill, the spit normally includes two or more opposing tined, movable forks.
Covered ceramic (viz., kamado) charcoal-burning grills have been used for many centuries. A generally egg-shaped, kamado grill made in several sizes from modern-day ceramic materials is available from Big Green Egg, Inc. of Atlanta, Ga., and sold under the Big Green Egg trademark. Reportedly more than 1,000,000 Big Green Egg grills have been sold worldwide since 1975. The manufacturer's literature and video supplied with a Big Green Egg state that a rotisserie is not needed. Despite this admonition, some owners of Big Green Egg grills have devised rotisserie support brackets that they mount on the lower half of an opened grill. A motorized rotisserie spit like those described above is laid across the supports and spans the cooking surface. The grill cover is left open during the cooking process. Other owners have disconnected the hinge and employed a fixed height cylindrical ring like those discussed above for charcoal kettle grills to carry out rotisserie cooking without the cover, or with the disconnected cover placed atop the ring.